Log time

Last update: February 18, 2025

Topics:
Timesheets

CREATED FOR:

User

You can log time for work items in Adobe Workfront to indicate the number of hours you spend working on them. You can also log time that is not related to work, like vacation, sick time, or time you spend in meetings. The time you log displays in your timesheet.

For more information about the type of hours you can log in Workfront, see Manage hour types.

Access requirements

Expand to view access requirements for the functionality in this article.

You must have the following access to perform the steps in this article and log Project Specific hours:

Adobe Workfront plan	Any
Adobe Workfront license*	New: Light or higher to log hours on a task, issue, or General Hours on a timesheet Standard to log hours on projects Current: Review or higher to log General Hours in a timesheet Work or higher to log hours on a project, task, or issue
Access level configurations	Edit access to the type of work item you log time for For example, you need Edit access to Issues, to log time for issues
Object permissions	Contribute or higher permissions on the work item you log time for that includes permissions to Log Hours

*For more information, see Access requirements in Workfront documentation.

Considerations when logging time in Workfront

You can log time for projects, tasks, or issues, or you can log time directly in your timesheet.

For information about creating timesheets, see Create a single-use timesheet.
All time logged through tools other than the timesheet appear in the timesheet for the corresponding time period.
Tasks and issues on a project that is not current are not pre-populated into a timesheet.
Time logged in the timesheet is immediately applied to the task, issue, or project.
Timesheets include the total time for all logged dates. Weekends are always included, even when timeline calculations have been configured to exclude them (as described in Configure system-wide project preferences).
The maximum number of items displayed in a timesheet is 45. If there are more than 45 items whose dates match the timesheet time frame, only the most recently updated items display.
Hour entries that are included in billed billing records are dimmed and cannot be edited in the timesheet. For more information, see Create billing records.
Personal tasks do not display in the timesheet by default. Personal tasks display in the timesheet only when they have time logged. After you log the time on a personal task, you can pin the task to the timesheet and it will remain on the timesheet if it remains pinned. For more information, see Create work items and projects from the Home area.

Log time

You can log time in the following areas in Workfront:

Timesheet
Home
Project, task, or issue
Summary panel
Boards
Mobile app

Timesheet

Log time on a timesheet

You can log time to the following items in the timesheet:

Pre-populated tasks, issues, and projects that display automatically, based on how your Workfront administrator sets the timesheet preferences. For information about how timesheets are pre-populated, see Configure timesheet and hour preferences.

Only the the tasks and issues assigned to you are pre-populated in your timesheet. Tasks and issues assigned to your teams or job roles do not populate your timesheet automatically.

Clicking Work On It on an item assigned to your teams assigns the item to you and the item will display in your timesheet.
Tasks, issues, or projects you manually add.
Tasks, issues, or projects for which you already logged time elsewhere in Workfront.
General time (vacation, training, overhead time).

NOTE

Review users assigned to a Timesheet Profile can see the Timesheets area and log general hours. However, they cannot log hours on any tasks or issues assigned to them that appear on the timesheet.

To log time on a timesheet:

Click the Main Menu icon in the upper-right corner of Adobe Workfront, or (if available), click the Main Menu icon in the upper-left corner.
Click Timesheets. Your current timesheet displays by default.
(Optional) Click the full-screen icon to display the timesheet in full-screen mode, then click the exit-full-screen icon to return to the timesheet.
(Optional) To add a project, task, or issue to the timesheet, click the Add item drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of the timesheet, then click Add Projects, Add Tasks, or Add Issues.

A list of projects, tasks, or issues displays.
(Optional) Click the search icon to search for a specific item using a keyword to add to the timesheet.
(Optional) Expand the filter, view, or grouping drop-down menus to apply or customize one and to view the item information that you want.
Select one or several items in the list, then click Add.

If you have added fewer than 50 items at one time, the items are added to the timesheet. Tasks and issues are listed under the name of the project.

NOTE
When you add tasks or issues to the timesheet, the project is also added.
(Conditional) If you add 50 or more items at one time, a confirmation message displaying the number of items added to your timesheet displays.

Click Add all to add all items
Or
Click Cancel to stop the adding of the selected items, then Cancel to close the list of items.

Tasks and issues are listed under the name of the project.

NOTE
The items that you manually add to the timesheet are pinned and will stay on the current and future timesheets until you manually unpin them to remove them. For information about unpinning items to remove them from the timesheet, continue with Step 10.
(Optional) Click the Collapse or Expand icons next to the project name to either display or hide the list of tasks and issues for the project.
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When using a standard QWERTY keyboard, and after clicking the name of a project in the timesheet, press the following set of keys to collapse or expand the project:
To expand the project and display its work items:

Shift + Alt + Up arrow for Windows computers

Shift + Option + Up arrow for Mac computers

To collapse the project and hide its work items:

Shift + Alt + Down arrow for Windows computers

Shift + Option + Down arrow for Mac computers.
(Optional) To manually pin an item that displays on the timesheet automatically, hover over the name of the item, then click the pin icon .
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When using a standard QWERTY keyboard after clicking an item in the timesheet, press the following set of keys to pin an item:
Option + P for both Windows and Mac computers.
(Optional) Click the search icon and start typing a keyword to find a project, task, or an issue on the timesheet.
(Conditional) If your Workfront or group administrator has enabled the Assign job roles to hour entries manually setting, select a job role from the drop-down menu. The role specified when you are assigned to the work item displays by default. If you are not assigned a role on the object, your Primary Role displays as the default. For more information on this setting, see the article Configure timesheet and hour preferences.
(Optional) Click the + icon to add another row, then select a new hour type from the drop-down menu in the Hour Type column to log time for a different hour type.
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Depending on your operating system or browser and when using a standard QWERTY keyboard, press the following set of keys to add another row:
Ctrl + Option + + for Windows computers

Cmd + Option + + for Mac computers
Hour types are available depending on what has been defined at the system, project, and user levels, as described in Define hour types and availability.

The hour type cannot be changed after a timesheet is closed.

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If you previously logged time and the hour type you selected is now deactivated, the entire row for the logged time is dimmed. Selecting another hour type and refreshing the page removes the deactivated hour type option from the drop-down list so you cannot add additional hours to that hour type.
Consider adding a new line for the work item you want to log additional time for and selecting a new hour type, if you want to keep the deactivated hour type associated with the past logged time.
Click the delete icon next to the job role to remove it. Any time logged for the role is also removed.
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Depending on your operating system or browser and when using a standard QWERTY keyboard, press the following set of keys to delete a row:
Ctrl + Option + - for Windows computers

Cmd + Option + - for Mac computers
Specify the amount of time you want to log on any given day in the timeline section of the timesheet, then click outside the hour box to save the hour entry. The hours are saved automatically. The row for which you log time is highlighted in light blue and the hour entry box is outlined in dark blue.

You log time in either hours or days. This setting is configured by users with a Plan license or the system administrator, as described in Configure whether time is logged in hours or days.
IMPORTANT
You must save the timesheet manually if any of the following scenarios occur:
The job role associated with time that you previously logged has changed and the Assign job roles to hour entries manually setting has been disabled. Logging time for new dates will associate it with a different job role.
If the role has changed and the Assign job roles to hour entries manually setting is enabled, you can log time or update the role and your changes are saved automatically.
The job role assigned to a task or issue is different than the job role the timesheet owner is logging time with .
The timesheet will again save the time automatically when there are no more conflicting entries between the two roles.
(Optional) Specify the amount of overtime in the Overtime field in the timesheet’s header.

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You cannot log a larger number of overtime hours than the current total hours on the timesheet. For example, if you logged 7 hours on the timesheet so far, you cannot log 8 hours of overtime.
(Optional) Click Comment to add a comment for your hour entry.
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When using a standard QWERTY keyboard after clicking the hour entry box, press the following set of keys to open the comment box:
Shift + F2 for both Windows and Mac computers.
Click Done to save the comment.
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When using a standard QWERTY keyboard, from inside the comment box, press the following set of keys to save the comment:
Ctrl + Enter for Windows computers.

Cmd + Return for Mac computers.
(Optional) Click Show comments in the toolbar to display hour entry comments under the work item.

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All changes you make to the timesheet are saved automatically.
(Optional) Click the row of a task or issue, then click Open Summary in the upper-right corner of the timesheet to add an update or to update information on the task or issue. The Summary panel opens on the right.

Your update displays in the Updates area of the work item associated with the logged time.

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You cannot comment on projects or General Time hour entries.
Click Close Summary to close the Summary panel and return to the timesheet.
(Optional) Click Updates in the left panel, then add an update to the timesheet. For more information about Workfront updates, see Update work.
(Optional) Return to the Timesheet area to close or submit your timesheet.
- Close: Close the timesheet when you are done updating it. This option is only available when your timesheet is not associated with an approver.
- Submit for approval: This option is available only if there is an approver on the timesheet. Save your changes and submit for approval. You can open the timesheet after closing it by clicking Recall, if an approval has not been granted yet. For more information, see Submit a timesheet for approval.
- Reject: This option displays when you are a timesheet approver and the timesheet has been submitted to you for approval. Clicking it changes the status of the timesheet to Rejected and the timesheet remains open.
- Approve: This option displays when you are a timesheet approver and the timesheet has been submitted to you for approval. Clicking it changes the status of the timesheet to Approved and closes the timesheet.
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The Reject and Approve options also display on your timesheet when you are a system administrator and the timesheet is associated with an approver.
(Conditional) If you have either closed or submitted your timesheet for approval, click one of the following options:
- Re-Open: This option is available for timesheets that you have already closed and which have no approvers, or timesheets that have already been approved. Reopen the timesheet to modify hour entries.
- Recall: This option is available for timesheets that have been submitted for approval but have not been approved or rejected yet. Click Recall to reopen the timesheet and modify hour entries.

Remove an item from the timesheet

You can remove an hour entry or an item (project, task, or issue) from a timesheet.

To remove an hour entry from a timesheet:

Go to the timesheet and find the hour entry you want to remove.
Replace the hours entered with 0
Or
Remove the hours and replace them with 0, then press Enter.

The hours are removed and the timesheet is saved automatically.

You can remove an item (project, task, or issue) from the timesheet by unpinning it, if you have not yet logged time for it, and if you manually added the item (as described in Steps 4-8 in the Log time on a timesheet section in this article).

You cannot remove items that are included in the timesheet automatically according to the timesheet preferences in your Workfront system or group that are configured to pre-populate the timesheets (as described in Configure timesheet and hour preferences). The items stop pre-populating the timesheet when the dates of the items are outside of the time frame of the timesheet.

To remove an item from the timesheet that was manually added:

Ensure that no time is logged against the item.
Click the unpin icon next to the item to unpin the item from the timesheet.
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When using a standard QWERTY keyboard after clicking an item in the timesheet, press the following set of keys to unpin an item:
Option + P for both Windows and Mac computers.
The item is removed from the timesheet after you refresh the page.

Home

You can log project-specific time in Home.

For general information about using the Home area, see Use the Home area.

You can log time to tasks and issues in any of the widgets using the Summary panel in the Home area. For information, see the Summary panel section in this article.

Additionally, to log time for an item in the My Work widget:

Go to the Home area.
Add the My Work widget to your Home.
(Optional) Select a task, issue, or request in a list, then click Work On It.
Hover over the task or issue you want to log time for, then click the Log Time icon to the right of the task information.
Click Log time.

The logged time displays in the object’s Hours section, and in your timesheet.

Project, task, or issue

You can log project-specific time on a project, task, or issue in the following sections:

Updates section
Hours section

Updates section

To log time in the Updates section of a project, task, or issue, you must have the following:

The correct access and permissions, as described in the Access requirements section in this article.
Your Workfront administrator must enable the Log time directly on projects setting under Timesheet & Hours > Preferences in the System area, if you want to log time directly to a project.

For more information about allowing users to log hours directly to projects, see Configure timesheet and hour preferences.

To log time in the Updates section of a project, task, or issue:

Go to a project, task, or issue.
In the left panel, select Updates.
Click Log Time.

The Log time dialog box displays.

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If your profile’s preference is set to log time in days, the Enter Days box displays.
There is an indication in the upper-right corner of the Enter Days box of how many hours are included in a day.
Specify the following information:
- Hour Type: Select an Hour Type from the drop-down menu, if it is different from the one displayed by default.
  
  Depending on what hour types are configured in your system, the options here might vary. For more information about configuring hour types, see Define hour types and availability.
- Job Role: (Conditional) If your Workfront or group administrator has enabled the Assign job roles to hour entries manually setting, select a Job Role from the drop-down menu. The Role specified when you are assigned to the object displays by default. If you are not assigned a Role on the object, your Primary Role displays as the default. For more information on this setting, see the article Configure timesheet and hour preferences.
- Hours: Enter the number of hours for the project, task, or issue.
Click Log time.

The logged time displays in the object’s Hours section, nad in your timesheet.

Hours section

You must be a Workfront administrator to log time for projects, tasks, and issues in the Hours section,

Or

You must have all of the following:

A Plan license with administrative access to Timesheets & hours. For more information about granting administrative access to Timesheets & hours, see Grant users administrative access to certain areas.
Contribute or higher permissions to the project with access to Log Hours. For more information about granting permissions on projects, see Share a project in Adobe Workfront.
Your Workfront administrator must enable the Log time directly on projects setting in the Timesheet & Hours > Preferences section of the Setup area, if you want to log time directly to a project. For more information about allowing users to log hours directly to projects, see Configure timesheet and hour preferences.

To log time in the Hours section of a project, task, or issue:

Go to a project, task, or issue.
In the left panel, click Hours.
Click Log Time.

The Log Hours dialog box displays.
Specify the following information:
- Owner: Your name displays in this field, by default.
  If you are logging the hours for another user, specify their name.
- Hour Type: Select an Hour Type from the drop-down menu, if it is different from the one displayed by default.
  
  Depending on what hour types are configured in your system, the options here might vary. For more information about configuring hour types, see Define hour types and availability.
- Job Role: (Conditional) If your Workfront or group administrator has enabled the Assign job roles to hour entries manually setting, select a Job Role from the drop-down menu. The Role specified when you are assigned to the object displays by default. If you are not assigned a Role on the object, your Primary Role displays as the default. For more information on this setting, see the article Configure timesheet and hour preferences.
- Hours: Enter the number of hours for the project, task, or issue.
Click Log Time.

Summary panel

You can log time for tasks and issues in the Summary panel.
For more information, see Summary overview.

Boards

You can log time on connected cards on a Workfront board. This is the same process as logging time on a task or issue, and the hours logged on the card are saved on the connected task or issue.
For more information, see Use connected cards on boards.

Mobile app

You can log time from the Workfront mobile app.
For more information, see Adobe Workfront for Android or Adobe Workfront for iOS.

Edit logged hours in lists and reports

CAUTION

You cannot modify hour entries that belong to a closed timesheet. You must first re-open the timesheet, and then change the hour entry information.
When you change the Hour Type from an type that does not count as revenue to another type that counts as revenue, changes to the project’s finances also occur. Changing Hour Types from a type that counts as revenue to a type that does not count as revenue updates the project’s finances, as well.

For information, see Manage hour types.

You can edit logged hours in the following areas:

All areas where you added the hours, including open timesheets
Hour lists and reports.

You can edit the following elements of an hour entry when you edit an hour entry in a list or report:

Number of hours
Hour Type
Job role associated with the hour entry
Description of the hour entry

Depending on what type of hour entries you edit, the following fields are available for editing in an hour list or report:

When you edit project-specific hours:
- The number of hours
- The Hour Type. You can change the Hour Type only to project-specific types.
- Job role assignment. You can change the Job Role assignment only if it was enabled in Setup. For information, see Configure timesheet and hour preferences
- The Description of the hour entry.
When you edit general hours:
- The number of hours.
- The Hour Type. You can change the Hour Type only to general types.
- The Description of the hour entry.

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You cannot change the hour Job role assignment, because general hours cannot be associated with roles.

When you edit a mix of general and project-specific hours, in bulk:
- The number of hours.
- The Description of the hour entry.

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You cannot change the Hour Type, because general hour types cannot be changed to project-specific types and project-specific hour types cannot be changed to general types.
You cannot change the Job role assignment, because general hours cannot be associated with roles.

To edit hour types in an hour report or list:

Go to an hour list or report.
Click the box to the left of one or multiple hour entries to select them.
Click the Edit icon at the top of the list.

The Edit Hour or Edit Hours box opens.
Update any of the following available fields:
- Hours. This is a required field.
- Hour Type. This is a required field.
- Job Role
- Description
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Not all fields are available, depending on what hour type is associated with the selected hour entries.
Click Save changes.

The hour entry information is updated.
If you selected more than one hour entry and modified the Hours field, the same amount of hours is allocated to all the selected hour entries. The original hours are replaced with the new value for all selected hour entries.

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